Jill’s Crock pot Lasagna (Created 5/3/08)

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon, minced garlic (from a jar is easiest)
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup red cooking wine
1 6 oz can tomato paste
4 cups spaghetti sauce (I used my 1 quart jar of homemade)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried thyme

12 lasagna noodles, uncooked—I use Barilla No Boil Lasagna noodles
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 dash fresh ground black pepper
2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (To cut cost I used 1 cup and only added it on the top finished layer. I didn’t add it in between layers like you typically do on lasagna.)

Brown meat and onions in large skillet and drain off excess fat. Add garlic, mushrooms, salt, wine, spaghetti sauce, and paste, mix well and set aside. In a medium bowl combine egg, ricotta/cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley flakes, and set aside.

Spray crock with cooking oil. Layer in a 5 or 6-quart crock-pot: 4 noodles, broken into pieces to fit. Spread ¼ the cheese mixture over noodles, ¼ of the meat mixture over noodles, and ¼ shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat this layering ending with meat.
Cook on high for 2-3 hours and Low 4-7 or until the noodles feel tender. About 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle with the rest of your mozzarella, cover and let stand until cheese is melted. (This will make it look pretty.) I personally didn’t want to hassle with it so I put it in to cook for the duration with everything else.

The recipe I modified from said it would serve 6. That would be a huge portion!! I fed 6 adults a very nice portion and 6 small children portions and still had leftovers. We also had a slice of bread and a side salad with it.